Gorilla Warfare
"Gorilla Warfare" is the 20th issue of the official Young Justice spin-off comic series. It was released on August 29, 2012. Solicitation * THE BRAIN, MONSIEUR MALLAH and THE ULTRA-HUMANITE have captured the team. * What does GORILLA GRODD want with MISS MARTIAN? Tagline: Gorilla Warfare Synopsis Miss Martian wakes up in a dark room. She remembers the Team's mission to Bwunda to stop the Brain's Kobra-Venom operation, and being attacked by a group of gorillas. She also recalls the telepathic presence of Grodd, who appears in front of her with three other gorillas and telepathically demands her help. Solovar, their leader, introduces himself, his mate Boka and Gorilla Grodd's mate, Primat, as well as formally introducing Gorilla Grodd himself. Miss Martian asks where they are, how the gorillas came to be telepathic and why they attacked the Team. Solovar explains: :Two years prior, two strangers, an old woman and a thin man, arrived with a group of Shadow mercenaries. They built a Quonset hut lab, in which they operated on the brain of Mallah, a young ape from Solovar's troop they had captured. Mallah received increased intelligence and betrayed the troop, helping capture and experiment upon another gorilla called Tolifhar. Tolifhar's brain was replaced with that of the old woman to become the Ultra-Humanite. The thin man's brain was then extracted and placed in a technological construct to become the Brain. :They then built more huts, naming the compound Gorilla City, and enslaved every gorilla in the troop but one, the Holy One. The gorillas were given inhibitor collars and had their intelligence surgically enhanced. Unbeknownst to their captors, the enhancements also gave the gorillas telepathy. Later, they were given Kobra-Venom injections. The gorillas still work for their captors, even though they no longer have inhibitor collars, because their children are being held hostage. They plan to revolt, with help from Miss Martian and the Team. Grodd is dismayed to learn M'gann is not the Team's leader, despite her powerful mind, but Solovar insists they still must trust her, and returns them to the physical world. Miss Martian and the gorillas are in a Quonset hut with Wolf. M'gann is certain her Team will help. Solovar has a plan. In the Brain's headquarters, the rest of the Team are shackled to a wall, apparently unconscious, with inhibitor collars on and their equipment removed. The Brain considers which experiments to perform on them, but Robin has a plan, and deploys the lock pick built into his glove. Outside another hut, Miss Martian impersonates a Shadow guard, allowing her to knock out the real guards, steal a keycard and enter the hut. Inside, she finds six gorilla children and, shapeshifting into a gorilla, carries them out. Grodd delivers Wolf to the Brain, shortly after which Robin frees himself. In the jungle, Miss Martian hands the six young gorillas, Nnamdi, Simeon, Ulgo, Kamau, Toto and Nzame, to Primat and Boka. They will take them to a safe place where the other mothers wait under the Holy One's protection. Back in the main hut, Grodd receives telepathic confirmation from Solovar that the children are safe, while Robin contemplates his next move in his case notes. Robin disappears from the restraining wall, retrieves his utility belt and detonates smoke pellets. He tasers Grodd, then removes Superboy's collar. Grodd grabs Robin, planning to kill him, but Solovar tells him not to. Superboy frees himself, as Aqualad and Artemis test the psychic link. It is there, but established by Grodd, not Miss Martian. Grodd informs the Team of the plan. When the smoke clears, the whole Team is free and rearmed, facing off against Ultra-Humanite, Mallah and Brain, who has summoned reinforcements. Solovar arrives carrying Miss Martian, along with Djuba, Malavar and a number of Shadows. Brain threatens to have M'gann killed if the Team does not stand down. Aqualad orders them to attack. The Team and their gorilla allies quickly defeat their enemies, so the Brain activates the compound's self-destruct device on a five-minute timer. Gorilla City is quickly evacuated before it explodes. The Team and the gorillas arrive at the secret hiding place. Grodd and Solovar happily reunite with their mates and children. Solovar reports everyone survived, likely including their former captors. Primat says the Holy One, Congorilla, has left them now that they have been liberated. Grodd thinks to himself that a new age may now begin, one of Grodd. Solovar tells Miss Martian they may build a Gorilla City of their own. Robin concludes his case notes. Nightwing reviews his case notes on the Gorilla City mission nostalgically. He reflects that they didn't know how good they had it back then. Title The title is a play on the phrase "guerilla warfare", a war strategy used by numerically smaller combatants against a superior army. It also has a double meaning which describes the plot: a group of gorillas (Grodd, Solovar et al.) fighting against other gorillas (Mallah and Ultra-Humanite). Characters |- | colspan="3" | Aqualad |- | colspan="3" | Artemis |- | colspan="2" | Boka | |- | colspan="3" | Brain |- | colspan="3" | Gorilla Grodd |- | colspan="3" | Kid Flash |- | colspan="3" | Miss Martian |- | colspan="3" | Robin/Nightwing |- | colspan="2" | Primat | |- | colspan="2" | Solovar | |- | colspan="3" | Superboy |- | colspan="3" | Ultra-Humanite |- ! colspan="3" | Non-speaking roles |- | colspan="2" | Congorilla | |- | colspan="2" | Djuba | |- | colspan="2" | Kamau | |- | colspan="2" | Malavar | |- | colspan="3" | Monsieur Mallah |- | colspan="2" | Nnamdi | |- | colspan="2" | Nzame | |- | colspan="2" | Simeon | |- | colspan="2" | Tolifhar | |- | colspan="2" | Toto | |- | colspan="2" | Ulgo | |- | colspan="3" | Wolf |- Continuity * This story continues from the previous issue. Trivia * Number 16: ** Nightwing finishes going over his mission in Gorilla City on September 27, 2015 at 04:16 EDT. ** This issue features 16 named gorillas. * This comic is reprinted in Young Justice Vol. 3: Creature Features. * Christopher Jones was originally slated to draw this issue, but due to the transition to the ''Invasion'' storyline, he skipped to issue #20 and Luciano Vecchio took over as the penciler of this issue. Jones still drew the cover, however.Jones, Christopher (2012-08-30). OUT NOW – Young Justice #19. christopherjonesart.com. Retrieved 2012-08-30. Questions Unanswered questions * What does Gorilla Grodd have planned now that Congorilla is gone? Quotes References External links * Young Justice Issue 19 at DCComics.com * Buy a digital copy at DC Entertainment Category:A to Z Category:Comic issues Category:Comic issues penciled by Luciano Vecchio Category:Comic issues written by Greg Weisman